Praying Father Had Chilling Premonition of Talented Boxer’s Killing

Before he was killed by gunshots, 28-year-old Tyrone Oliver had recently arrived in the country from Africa where he represented the Bahamas in the boxing ring.

The professional boxer was passionate about the sport and “possessed some amazing skills.”

“He was excited about the opportunity and wanted to be the best ambassador through the sport of boxing,” said Romell Knowles, who sits on the Bahamas Olympic Committee.

“I was impressed [at] how poised he was for a young boxer.”

But his promising career would abruptly end after gunmen killed him and his brother Shakuar early Saturday morning while in a vehicle in the parking lot of Solomon’s Super Center. Authorities were alerted to gunshots in the area and spotted a Japanese vehicle speeding away from the scene. Further investigations revealed that the brothers were sitting in a vehicle, dead.

Tyrone’s death came as no surprise to his father Tyrone Snr since he had a chilling premonition of his son’s death.

Tyrone Snr was at home praying at the time of the murder. In recent times, he felt that something bad would happen to his eldest son, who surrounded himself with people of unscrupulous behavior, which clashed with his promising boxing career.

“I don’t sugarcoat what it is. I never had any bad sons, but the older one intertwined himself with persons known by the police. Many times I admonished him and said to him, ‘If you don’t watch out, your lifestyle gon’ cause you,” Tyrone Snr told the Tribune.

The father even warned Shakuar to stay away from Tyrone. “I told him (Shakuar) not to be with this boy for this time because he’s not a good fit for you because, in the spirit, I already know what God was showing me.”

As many question the circumstances surrounding the young men’s death, Knowles concluded, “I’m not exactly sure what happened, what I can say is that we lost another young man to the streets, one full of life and had in my opinion, a bright future ahead of him.”

The Aftershock Boxing Academy Club said the boxing community lost “one of its best.”

“[He] will be honored and [his]name will live on through the sport.”

The year 2020 was the beginning of Tyrone’s professional boxing career where he fought in the United States. But, in 2021, Tyrone Jr was ganged and stabbed by two perpetrators. He survived the attack and was determined to continue his career.

A former girlfriend and mother of his seven-year-old daughter said the young father “was always the guy to [make] you laugh, then cry, then laugh again because you laughed so much, you had no other choice but to cry,” Joy Smith said.

Smith attested that Tyrone Jr got up to train at 4 am every morning. “He was destined for greatness. Tyrone’s dream was to put the Bahamas back on the map for boxing and he wasn’t stopping until it happened.”